Electrical Engineering PhD Candidate Desalegne Teweldebrhan, who conducts his research in Professor Alexander Balandin’s Nano-Device Laboratory (NDL), received the Silver Medal Award of the Materials Research Society (MRS) at the annual meeting in San Francisco.

Professor Yushan Yan and a team of researchers nationwide were recently awarded a five-year, $6.25 million grant to develop a greener, lighter-weight and longer-lasting power source for armed service members increasingly reliant on electronic devices.

David Kisailus Presents Biomimetics Research on TV

The Loh Down on Science

The research being done on graphene by Professor Balandin and his team in the Nano-Device Laboratory was the subject of the radio program, the Loh Down on Science

Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is concerned with the creation of materials with novel properties and their use in a variety of fields ranging from ultra-fast computer chips and high-efficiency solar cells to high-powered jets, and even beauty products. Today, engineering innovations are increasingly dependent on breakthroughs in materials at the micro- and nanometer scale. Students in MSE acquire a solid background in the basic sciences and in the engineering of materials, with hands-on laboratory experience in nano-scale materials characterization and processing. This program prepares graduates for a variety of careers in fields such as nanotechnology, electronics, computing, the biomedical, automotive and aerospace industries, as well as government agencies and research laboratories.

MSE News

2017-2018 Graduate Research and Dissertation Year Fellows

The MSE program is proud the Academic Year 2017-18 Graduate Research and Dissertation Year Fellows. They have been selected by UCR's Graduate Council for demonstrated excellence in research and engagement. They are (left to right) Cindy S. Merida, Xiaojing Wang, Melina Fuentes-Garcia, Steven Herrera & Fabian Villalobos.

Professor Yadong Yin receives 2016 NML Researcher Award

Professor Yadong Yin was chosen as one of the recipients of the NML Researcher Award 2016 by the journal of Nano-Micro Letters in partnership with the Nature Research Society. The NML Researcher Award is established to recognize research excellence in the field of nano and micro science, with special consideration to those who have continuously made outstanding contributions to the development of science in last three years. Details about this award are available here:

MSE Faculty Member Dr. Reza Abbaschian received highest honor as AIME Honorary Member

Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Dr. Reza Abbaschian has been selected by The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS) and approval by The American Institute of Mining, Matallurgical & Petroleum Engineers (AIME) Board as an Honorary Member. The AIME Honorary Membership is one of the highest honors that the Institute can bestow on an individual. It is awarded in appreciation of outstanding service to the Institute or in recognition of distinguished scientific or engineering achievement in the fields embracing the activities of AIME and its Member Societies.

Dr. Abbaschian’s citation for “Pioneering contributions in solidification processing, materials education, and leadership in materials science and engineering worldwide” is what captured the attention of the AIME to bestow such an honorable award. He will be presented with this honor along with a ceremonial medallion, shadow box, and pin at the TMS’s awards reception and dinner.

Student Spotlight

Thomas Dugger, a second year MSE Ph.D. student in the Kisailus Biomimetics and Nanostructured Materials Lab, is investigating how spiders’ make their silk. Specifically, he is studying the factors which control the assembly of crystalline domains within the silk proteins. Revealing the mechanisms responsible for bio-manufactured silk will be used to develop new polymer fiber manufacturing processes and even design biomimetic polymer fibers. These biomimetic fibers will be utilized in strong fiber-reinforced composites for aircraft or automobile frames, armor and sports equipment.

Melina is a second year MSE Ph.D. student working in professor Allen Mills’ positronium lab. Her research includes aspects of atomic, molecular, optical, and condensed matter physics. Positronium is a hydrogen-like atom composed of an electron and its antiparticle, the positron. Melina’s studies include making a precise measurement of the positronium 1S-2S energy interval to shed light on the proton radius puzzle – the name given to the apparent disparity in the size of the proton measured using 1S-2S spectroscopy of hydrogen and muonic hydrogen. These experiments will also provide a precision test of bound-state quantum electrodynamics theory, fundamental to our understanding of modern physics.

MSE Graduate Student, Sarah Allec, wins

NASA MIRO FIELDS Fellowship

Funded by the NASA MUREP Institutions Research Opportunity (MIRO) program and partnering with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the FIELDS Graduate Student Fellowship funds graduate students, particularly underrepresented minorities, performing data intensive research. Graduate fellows receive financial support for up to two years, as well as opportunities to collaborate with a JPL science staff member.

Sarah Allec, a second-year graduate student in the MSE PhD program under Dr. Bryan Wong, works on quantum dynamics calculations of the electronic properties of massive light-harvesting systems. During her first year, she applied large-scale quantum calculations to predict the properties of phosphorene nanotubes and porphyrin nanotubes. Her work on the latter system resulted in a first-author publication in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.

Moving forward, Sarah hopes to focus on improving current computational models for the study of larger, more complex systems. Her project to be funded by the FIELDS fellowship is on the development of a multiscale computational model for lightweight multifunctional materials. This model will accelerate the guided synthesis and implementation of carbon nanotubes and graphene for such materials via high-throughput screening and machine learning techniques.

Sarah was also one of 10 recipients awarded the Eli Lilly/WCC Travel Award by the Women Chemists Committee (WCC) of the American Chemical Society (ACS). This award provided funding for her to travel to and present her research at the 253rd ACS National Meeting in San Francisco during April 2017.

MSE Graduate Student, Nicholas Yaraghi, wins big at the Battle of the Labs by Battery Powered

Battery Powered, is a philanthropic group/giving program and subset of The Battery, a social club based in San Francisco. Battery Powered holds quarterly themes, which focus on local and global issues for members to learn about and eventually fund. The theme for Spring 2016 was "Resource Revolution," focusing on the question "What will it take to accelerate a resource revolution in California's food, water, and energy systems?"

Dr. David Kisailus was invited to participate in the "Battle of the Labs" along with six other top university laboratories in California to present their research related to this theme. Nicholas Yaraghi gave a talk on behalf of Dr. Kisailus titled "From Nature to Engineering, and Back!" discussing lightweight bio-inspired composite materials for fuel-efficient vehicles. After a final vote at the end of the night Nicholas Yaraghi's presentation was the chosen finalist the theme. The UC Riverside Biomimetics and Nanostructured Materials Lab has now been invited to join the Resource Revolution finalist organizations, each of which is eligible for Battery Powered funding of up to $300,000.

Materials Science & Engineering undergraduate student, William Coley, wins Starnet Fellowship from the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) for his work in Dr. Ludwig Bartels' lab.

Seven undergraduate students have received Starnet fellowships from the Semiconductor Research Corporation for work in Dr. Ludwig Bartels' lab during the remainder of the academic year and summer 2016. Commitments totaling >$30K across all students were made to (from left) Sahar Naghibi Alviallar (Chemistry), Dominic Martinez-Ta (Physics), Michelle Wurch (Bioeng.), Adam Berges (Chemistry), Aimee Martinez (Chem. Eng.), Marisol Herrera-Ruiz (Chemistry), and William Coley (Mat. Sci. & Eng.).

Fall 2016 New Graduate Student Cohort

MSE Welcomes Our New Graduate Students!

News Highlights

US & New World Report ranks UCR's MSE Program in Top 50 Best Materials Engineering Graduate Programs!

Every year, US News & World Report publishes its annual ranking of the best graduate schools and programs. For the materials engineering programs, what are the changes between the 2016 and 2017 rankings? MSE Supplies (www.msesupplies.com) has compiled the ranking data and found some interesting movement of ranking spots of some schools.

Authors received the official top 100 badge for each article from the publisher.

Prof. Mihri Ozkan:Faculty Action Climate Champion 2015-2016

Prof. Mihri Ozkan is recognized for her outstanding educational research in the field of sustainability.

Pressure Cooking to Improve Electric Car Batteries

By creating nanoparticles with controlled shape, engineers believe smaller, more powerful and energy efficient batteries can be built.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering have redesigned the component materials of the battery in an environmentally friendly way to solve some of these problems. By creating nanoparticles with a controlled shape, they believe smaller, more powerful and energy efficient batteries can be built. By modifying the size and shape of battery components, they aim to reduce charge times as well.

“This is a critical, fundamental step in improving the efficiency of these batteries,” said David Kisailus, an associate professor of Materials Science and Engineering and lead researcher on the project. Link to UCR News

The annual rankings by Leiden University in the Netherlands ranked UC Riverside's programs in engineering and natural sciences 10th in the world, ahead of institutions such as Princeton, Yale, and Caltech. The Leiden rankings objectively measure scientific impact based on research citations and collaboration worldwide.Link to UCR News

Professor Co-edits Book on Graphene

Alexander Balandin co-edits and co-authors a chapter in the book about the novel synthetic material

A University of California, Riverside professor of Materials Science and Engineering has co-edited a book about innovative technologies using graphene.

Balandin has also contributed a chapter on thermal properties and applications of graphene, which was co-authored with Denis Nika, an associate professor and chair of the physics department in Moldova State University. The unique heat conduction properties of graphene were discovered at UCR. This year, professor Balandin will receive the MRS Medal for his experimental and theoretical work on thermal properties of graphene. Link to UCR News Release